TORONTO, 13 May 2005 — Jermaine O’Neal scored 22 points and Jeff Foster pulled down a career-high 20 rebounds as the Indiana Pacers rallied to defeat the Detroit Pistons 92-83 on Wednesday, leveling their Eastern Conference semifinal at 1-1.
In the day’s other playoff game, Dirk Nowitzki nailed a fadeaway jumper with 6.8 seconds remaining to lift the Mavericks to a 108-106 road win over the Phoenix Suns as Dallas squared up their Western Conference semifinal series.
After cruising to an easy 15-point victory in Game One and leading by 10 at the half in Game Two, the Pistons appeared poised to take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven series with a pair of home wins.
However, inspired by 15 second half points from Reggie Miller, the Pacers battled back to even the series before the teams shift to Indianapolis for Game Three today.
The defeat was the first in nine home playoff games for the Pistons, dating back to last year’s conference finals.
Foster had 14 points to go with his massive rebound haul while O’Neal completed his night with 10 rebounds of his own and five blocks.
Miller finished with 19 points while Stephen Jackson had 13 points and Jamaal Tinsley added 12 points and 12 assists for the Pacers.
“I’ve been trying for 20 all season so it was nice to do it tonight when we needed a big win,” Foster said.
“We came out flat last game but everyone dug deep tonight. A lot of guys fed off each other and we got the win.”
Tayshaun Prince led the defending NBA champions with 24 points, nine rebounds and seven assists while Richard Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace each had 14 points in a losing cause.
The Pacers have made an art of coming back all season, having lost key members of their roster to long suspensions following a regular season brawl with Detroit players and their fans at the Palace at Auburn Hills in November.
Trailing 50-40 at halftime, the Pacers cut the deficit to a single point (69-68) entering the final quarter.
With the lead changing hands at almost every possession, the Pacers finally took control with an 11-0 run to surge 88-77 ahead with 2:30 to play.
Nowitzki had not scored in the final quarter but made his only successful shot count to send Dallas back home for Game Three today with the best-of-seven series all square at 1-1.
Michael Finley led the Mavericks with a game-high 31 points, including five-for-six from outside the three-point arc while Nowitzki finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds.
“We knew we had to come out with energy right from the jump,” Finley said. “We did and we got the win.”
Eric Dampier, criticized by Nowitzki after Dallas’ 25-point blowout in Game One, responded with a double-double hitting for 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Amare Stoudemire had 30 points and 16 rebounds for the Suns and NBA MVP Steve Nash chipped in with 23 points and 13 assists.
Shawn Marion also had 23 points and 15 rebounds and Quentin Richardson contributed 12 points but watched his three-pointer at the buzzer clang off the rim to allow the Mavericks to escape with the win.
